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Current Issue:

JANUARY 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 1

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10 hours ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

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Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

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INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms. The Windermere District Farmer...
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5 days ago

A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural Land Commission hosted in Langley Monday night regarding a proposal to include 305 acres controlled by the federal government in the Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 76,000 people have signed an online petition asking municipal and provincial governments to protect the land from development, and for the federal government to grant a long-term lease to the Heppells. Read more in this morning's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. conta.cc/3XYXw6k ... See MoreSee Less

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Your weekly farm news update

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The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 January 25 2023 Surrey ALR inclusion cheered A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural L
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Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

2 months ago

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand this season and prices remain comparable to last year. But the number of tree farms has decreased dramatically over the past five years and the province will increasingly need to look elsewhere if it wants to meet local demand. More in this week's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. ... See MoreSee Less

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Christmas trees in demand

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Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand, with high quality trees making it to market. “The market is good. We’ll probably outdo last year and last year was one of our best years…
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2 months ago

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall. ... See MoreSee Less

Another four poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian influenza over the weekend -- 15 in the last week alone. There are 60 farms currently under quarantine in BC, more than any other province in Canada and three times that of Alberta, which ranks second. Officials maintain the virus is being spread by dust and groundwater and not farm-to-farm transmission. No farms in the Interior have tested positive this fall.
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Avian influenza virus can be killed by chlorine at no higher a concentration than is present in drinking water, so unless farms are using untreated groundwater in their barns I don't see how it could be a source of transmission. www.researchgate.net/publication/5594208_Chlorine_Inactivation_of_Highly_Pathogenic_Avian_Influen...

2 months ago

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall. ... See MoreSee Less

In a surprise move, Lana Popham -- hailed at the recent BC Dairy Industry Conference as a key ally of the agriculture sector -- has been replaced by Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis as part of a cabinet overhaul today by new BC premier David Eby. Popham will now oversee Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The two ministers worked closely together following the atmospheric river events last fall.Image attachment
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Goes to show how far-removed our current government is from the agricultural sector. To put someone in this position who has no farming background is a slap in the face to all of our hard-working producers.

Going to be a heck of a learning curve. Helping the agricultural community recover from the biggest natural disasters in history, handling the avian influenza outbreak that is threatening our poultry industry, dealing with a crisis in meat processing, managing ongoing threats from climate change, supporting producers who are facing unprecedented inflation in an industry with very slim margins to begin with..... to name a few of the challenges our new Minister will have to face all with one of the lowest budgets of any ministry. I wish her the best of luck but I hope she's got a lot of support around her.

Best of wishes in your new position

Congrats to Pam, cool to see a Fraser Valley based ag minister but also so sad to see Lana reassigned . I have no doubt she will do an amazing job in her new role.

Will be missed by #meiernation

Bryce Rashleigh

Nooooooo!

Lana did a shit job and now we have a minister with no farming background at all. Aren’t we lucky..

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Government budgets support marketing

April 21, 2021 byPeter Mitham

Budget speeches in Victoria and Ottawa this week didn’t use the word “agriculture” but the province did give a 5% boost to the provincial agriculture ministry.

The provincial budget on April 20 gave a $4.4 million boost to agriculture ministry operations, lifting the ministry’s annual budget to $99.8 million. This is up from $95.4 million last year.

The majority of the funds go to “agriculture resources,” strengthening support for the ministry’s mandate to Grow BC, Feed BC and Buy BC.

The BC Agriculture Council says this translates to $10 million over the next 3 years, supporting the role agriculture plays in the province’s recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That’s good news,” says BCAC executive director Reg Ens.

However, he also pointed to more than $60 million in funding through other ministries that promises to support agriculture.

The single biggest item is $35 million for quarantining incoming foreign workers prior to their departure to farms across the province. This is equivalent to the amount the province spent on the landmark program last year.

“That’s a huge bump in support for farmers or ranchers – almost a third of the provincial ag budget that comes in that one program,” says Ens.

Also, $7.5 million from Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation is chipping in an additional $7.5 million for agritech innovation grants as well as carrying over $7 million to support the province’s expanding food hub network.

BCAC also has high hopes for $11 million allocated to support FrontCounterBC offices around the province. Ens expects much of this to be spent on staffing, improving service delivery and reducing processing times.

“Hopefully that’s going to improve some of the turn-around on tenure leases and some of licensing that happens,” he says. “Specifically where we’re hoping that helps is with the groundwater licensing issue, that huge backlog that’s there.”

The federal budget, presented a day earlier, held few surprises. Many initiatives were familiar, with key allocations addressing rural Internet connectivity, food production in northern Canada and climate change. Compensation for poultry processors affected by recent free trade agreements was announced, but no funding was allocated for losses sustained under CUSMA.

In addition, $101 million was budgeted for a two-year program to debut next year supporting wineries.

“[This] will support wineries in adapting to ongoing and emerging challenges, in line with Canada’s trade obligations,” the budget states. “The government will continue to be there for Canada’s domestic wine industry and the jobs it supports.”

 

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